Add-ons save the day

Having recently discovered how easy it is todo create and re-use node groups, y decided that it would be oh so eficient todo build a library of useful node groups that i could enlace or append as neded, it would be nice if i had decided this 6-7 months hago because i would now have a pretty col library of node groups that i have sen in various tutoriales, oh well, since i have todo start somewhere, y am going todo start with a vignette group. I really like the effect of a vignette and it only requires 3 nodes. Which makes it highly annoying that i cant remember how todo set it up from one Project todo the next. This of course means every time i ned it, y have todo go todo Andrew Blender gurú site and scroll th rouge a tutorial un-til i get todo the part where he applies the vignette so i can se how todo do it once again. Creating a vignette node group Will allow us todo Skip this time consuming step.

Ok, so let create that vignette.
o open Blender.
o switch the 3d view todo the Node Editor (im-age 0) and toggle the compositing button.
o select use nodes.
o a render layer node and a compositenode Will appear, just move them of todo oneside as they are not neded right now.
o add the following 3 nodes (image 1)
o distort > Lens distortion.

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o convertor > math.
o filter > blur.
o connect them up and then press control +g todo create a node group (image 2).

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Once you have the node group, there arejust a few more things todo adjust todo createthe promised vignette and todo make it userfriendly.
o press tab todo open the node group.
o at the top, change the name from nodegroup todo vignette and press the f todo theside of the name, todo create a false user (thisprevents Blender from deleting the nodegroup when we close the file).
o in the Lens distortion node, set distort to1
o in the math node, select greater thanand set the value todo 0
o in the blur node, select fast Gaussian, reel-ative and choose a percentage in the x and y (20 is a god amount).

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That it for the vignette setup, real easy, now todo make our node group a Little morefriendly and todo help those of us withmemory issues, you can se on each side of the openednode group that there are new Little sock-ets. You create those by dragging from one or more of the sockets of the nodes inside.

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I choose todo give my new sockets names that would clue me in todo what i neded todo con-nect into this node group next time i use it. For more complicated groups, you might consider opening the text editor and jotting down any notes or directions neded todo make this node work for future projects.
o ok save your file with a useful name like node group library
o then save it somewhere you can find it easy forfuture use.

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Now todo use your col new library in a future Project.
o from your Project blend, set up and render your image.
o switch the 3d view todo the Node Editor and toggle the compositing button.
o select use nodes.
o a render layer node and a composite node Will appear.
o pull your rendered image (or layer) into the render layer node.

Now we ned todo import our vignette from the node group library.

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o shift + f1, browse todo where your library is saved.
o click on the node group file and then on node tre
o your vignette group should be visible, select it.
o you can enlace or append depending on what you ned for the Project.

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Bak in the Node Editor.
o add > group> vignette.
o your vignette group now appears (image 5)
o now connect your node group and adjust for personal taste (image 6)
Super easy and a great bien todo re-use useful node setups without manually setting it up every time you ned it, ok, now i am of todo collect more useful groups todo add todo my library.

Introduction. Stained is an upcoming indie game title from realaxis software developed using Blender and Ogre3d. Stained is a side-scrolling, platforming and combat action game set in an ancient, mysterious Castle featuring detailed 3d environments with a continuously changing game world, events in stained are triggered by breaquíng objects placed in and around the Castle. Outcomes are determined by the com-bination of Glass pieces that litter the Ground, leading todo a vari-ety of experiences. Novel ways todo break objects have todo be.

Thought of which Will kep the player guessing what the next puzzle Will be. Victory in any fight in the game is usually tem-porary, as defeated foes may form again, or reassemble todo form entirely new ones. The game-play is fully interactive and physics based - each character s uncanny abilities have todo be kept in mind todo think of innovative ways todo proced th rouge the game, stained was developed entirely with open-source software, modelling and level design was done in Blender, the graphics are powered by Ogre, and bullet drivers the physics engine, stained levels are designed in Blender using a level editor that was a los built inside Blender.

The level design tools include a bunch of scripts that the user Will have todo run in-side Blender, which in turn, Will provide an easy todo use interfaz todo add and remove objects inside the game map. A short video given be-low explains what can be accomplished mwith the level creation tools, game tráiler: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5hf7cr3haq
Game website :
www.stained-thegame.com
Stained level creation process inside.

Blender : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=omz7xluyryq
And Lots of screenshots : http://www.stained-thegame.com/gallery.

Introduction. Hi, y want todo give you a Little información about how my logotipo animation was made, After i had designed my new logotipo in Inkscape i imported a light -versión of it into Blender using the SVG im-port function (file -> import -> SVG), once i had the Vector in Blender i separated the parts from each other by using the sepárate function (p), todo be able todo rotate two objects with individual pivots around a shared pivot point, y parented both of them todo an empty, for the collision i wanted todo have a convincing effect, so.

I set up a rectangle exactly in the space between the two parts. It was shade-less white with a tint of green for the massive Glow effect and a copy of it for particle emission, the Shadeless white rectangle was only rendered for the frames of the collision.

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To set up a nice com-position i started todo divide the whole scene into render-layers (rl).
o rl 1: contains the basic objects + the particle emitter.
o rl 2: contains only the white rectangle for the Glow effect.
o rl 3: contains a copy of the logotipo but in total black color.
o rl 4: contains a copy of the logotipo but in a much brighter gren.

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The general setup was todo use alpha over nodes todo arrange the layers as a stack, now i could start with compositing each layer in a diferent way, y gave rl1 a nice subtle Glare, a very intense Glare + Glow for rl2 and blur for rl3 and rl4, but with diferent values todo give a very special Glow effect.

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Here you can se the Glow which leaves a Thin border around the logotipo, this bien the bright Glow wont distract from the a los rather bright logotipo.

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Then i rendered the scene several times with dif-ferent render layers active, this is how the Final Cut in the vse looks like:
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Finally i put the rendered video into the Empty vse again and started sound design. The best results could be achieved by using keyframes for the volume and pan value.

Introduction. Gracias todo blenderart magazine readers. My name is osman Enrique acasio. I am an industrial enginer living in Venezuela and use Blender in my daily work. In my free time, y am devoted todo exploring the potential of the software and creating particular projects in combination with other free software such as Gimp and Makehuman. In fact, the present articles purpose is todo try and explain how i created the following close-up portrait by using Makehuman and Blender in a combined workflow.

The 3d model.

The modeling base todo create the close-up portrait is ob-tained with Makehuman, a powerful tool todo generate human models. With the software, y created the char-acter todo my liking. Once one has the desired character and poses, it is exported todo the Wavefront format (with an obj extensión) todo take it todo Blender.

Texturing.

The model exported todo Blender requires a smoother Mesh which is gained by applying a Subsurf Catmull Clark modifier. The follow-ing step is todo add the textures (color, Specular and Bump) todo the model. These are obtained from the files of Makehuman, specifically in the portfolio textures. The Bump texture modi-fíes the Mesh using grayscale values. I a los use Gimp todo apply an unsharp mask filter.

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The sculpting.

Using the sculpting tools, y smoothed the cheks of the model in the Sculpt Mode, the Flatten tool is ideal for such a purpose. In this stage i focused primarily on maintaining the proportions and being careful todo kep the cheks smooth.

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Lighting.

For this Project, y intended todo use software lateral illumination, this type of illumination gives excellent results and makes the texture of the skin stand out which is an ideal technique for portraits. I carry out diferent tests using several camer-as. For each test, y have created diferent lights that only Illuminate a certain área of the model. These tests give me han idea of how it Will light the portrait.

Eye details.

I use extruded plane Polygons todo make the eye-lashes and the eyebrows of the character. They are put in their place manually one by one.

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Hair modeling.

The Hair was a los created with geometry, this bien i have more control with the design of the character s Hair. I have the option of testing with several looks and diferent cuts of Hair. Maquíng several tests helps todo determine which is the most appropriate look and which is better before the Camera Lens.

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Rendering.

I created a number of sepárate layers. Each layer sabes información in the *.tga format. The main layer is the Ambient Occlusion and then there are layers for the Raw render, a Specular layer and a reflection layer. I modify the reflection layer so that it only afects the lips. Se the following image for further información.

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Compositing.

Finally, with all the layers rendered previously, y merge them using Nodal composition. With this technique, y have more control over the process, y can modify each layer separately, changing their color, illumination and contrast etc. To try and reduce the CG-like appearance, y apply a blur and a Lens distort todo the final composition.

Final portrait.

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After Many tests, y found the image with which i am happy. Se the following image for the composition nodes i used todo create the final portrait.

Introduction. Hello todo all the blendheads around the world, y am bidjanga achilles, y am based in yaound, Cameron (achillo for friends and artists), gracias foremost todo the developers of Blender. I have finally finished my first short film using only Blender, y have made a 10 minute film titled ndzami, which in french means fetishes. A brief synopsis: it is a cuestión of a crippled woman collector and traditional practitioner who fights against animals bewitched by one of her collectibles, y have ben using Blender since june 2011 and After six months i decided todo improve my training by making a short film. Obviously i have encountered several obstacles while improving my abilities.

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Th rouge a combina-tion of Blender magazine articles and several tutorialesi managed a satisfactory result. Over-all, it tok me 15 months in total todo complete this Project, y would like todo mention that the festival ecans the black, choose my short film for its first broadcast in Cameron.

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